Motorcycle repair often requires both general-purpose tools and special tools.
(1) General tools
The main general tools needed for motorcycle repair are wrenches, screwdrivers, hand hammers, hand pliers, steel rulers, calipers, angle gauges, thickness gauges, percentage gauges, percentage tables, etc.
Wrench. Motorcycle mechanics often use the following wrenches: open-end wrenches, plum wrenches, adjustable wrenches, socket wrenches, torque wrenches, hexagonal wrenches, etc., as shown in Figure 1-52.
Open-end wrench is the most common kind of wrench, also called dull wrench. The center plane of its opening and the center plane of the body are at an angle of 15°, so that it can adapt to the operation direction of the hand. It can also reduce the requirement for operating space. Its specification is expressed by the width of the opening at both ends (mm), such as 8 to 10, 12 to 14, etc.; it is usually equipped in sets, with a set of 8 pieces, a set of 10 pieces, etc.
The two ends of the plum wrench are ring-shaped, and the inner hole of the ring is made of two positive hexagons concentrically staggered by 30° to each other. When using, after wrenching 30°, you can change position and set again, so it is suitable for operation in narrow occasions. Compared with open-end wrenches, plum wrenches have high strength and are not easy to slip off when using, but it is not convenient to set on and take off. Its specifications are expressed in terms of the size of the closed mouth (mm), such as 8 to 10, 12 to 14, etc. It is usually equipped in sets, with a set of 8 pieces, a set of 10 pieces, etc.
The material and the shape of the ring hole of the socket wrench are the same as those of the plum wrench, which are suitable for dismantling and installing bolts or nuts in a narrow position or requiring a certain torque. Socket wrenches are mainly composed of socket head, handle, ratchet switch, quick crank, joint and connecting rod, etc. Various handles are suitable for different occasions, and the specifications of commonly used socket wrenches are 10 to 32mm in order to operate easily or improve efficiency. many special socket wrenches are also often used in motorcycle maintenance, such as spark plug sockets, wheel sockets, tire nut sockets, etc.
The opening size of the movable wrench can be adjusted arbitrarily within a certain range, and the occasions of use are the same as those of the open-end wrench, but the movable wrench is less flexible in operation. Its specification is expressed by the maximum opening width (mm), and there are commonly used 150mm, 300mm, etc.
Torque wrench is a special tool that can read out the size of the applied torque. Its specifications are divided by the maximum measurable torque, and there are two kinds of commonly used ones, 294N-m and 490N-m. In addition to controlling the tightening torque of threaded parts, torque wrenches can also be used to measure the starting torque of rotating parts to check the fit and assembly.